Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-05-24
THE ALIEN LAND LAW,
How 1t Is Interpreted In Engiand-H
Has No Effect on Mining Claims.
Which are Considered the Safest
Kind Of Property for Foreigners.

In view of an influx of new mining
and land companies from the United
States, it may be advisable to direct
public attention to certain legal risks
which have to be guarded against.
Apart altogether from the intrinsic
value of properties which may be Of
fered in this market, the question of
title is growing more and more i'm
portant. Quite as many mining VEN
lures have made shipwreck on defect
i've titles as from any other cause.
An Act which was passed in the last
session of Congress greatly adds to
that danger and to the necessity that
exists for caution on the part not only
OF investors but of prom oters. From
an Official copy of it with which we
have been favored, we find that it is
entitled can Act to restrict the own
ership of real estate in the Territories
to American citizens" 1t declares
"that it shall be unlawful for any per-
son or persons not citizens of the
United States, or who have not law
fully declared their intention to be.
come such citizens, or for any corpo-
ration not created by or under the
laws of the United States, or of some
State or Territory of the United
States, to hereafter acquire, hold, or
own real estate or any interest there
in, in any of the Territories of the
United States, or in the District of
Columbia"
This prohibition is not entirely new,
as similar law had been previously
passed with regard to individual
aliens. Congress has now gone a
step further, and disqualifes alien
corporations as we'll as individuals.
1t also forbids alien possession of real
estate, not merely in fee, but as re
CARDS any interest therein. This i'm
portant extension Of the prohibition
virtually forbids the mortgaging of
real estate or the acquisition of any
interest in it whatever. The second
section of the act renders that more
clear and specific. 1t says "that no
corporation or association, more than
20 per cent. of the stock Of which is
or may be owned by any person or
persons, corporation or corporations,
not citizens of the United States, shall
hereafter acquire or hold any real
estate in any of the Territories of the
United States or of the District of
Columbia
That section is obviously directed
against class of bogus companies
which were formed for the purpose Of
evading the first anti alien land law.
They were duly constituted and reg
istered within the Territory, but they
had only one shareholder, and that
was the alien company in whose in
terest they had been formed. Many
instances might be given of English,
and still more of Scottish companies,
which have sunk vast sums of money
in the Territories of the United States,
without having any legal status to
protect them. Their only hold on
property for which they have paid half
a million, or even three-quarters of a
million sterling, is through the bogus
company created by their American
solicitors simply as title holder. 1t
has been a risky practise from the be-
ginning, and Congress has done no
great harm either to British capital
lists or to the Territories in putting a
veto on it. For the future it is abso-
lutely ard distinctly forbidden. The
new law has been made so wide and
comprehensive that it will be useless,
not to say dangerous, to try to get
around it. Better for us to accept
the situation and to know that hence
forth no alien can acquire real estate
in the United States Territories or
any interest therein, unless in one or
two exceptional cases expressly men,
toned in the Act.
The first exception is in favor OF
existing owners, whether individual
or corporate. The law is not to be
retrospective, and it recognizes by i'm
plication all alien rights and interests
existing at the date of its passage
That may relieve from some anxiety
the British foster parents of those
bogus or dummy companies, by which
millions of acres of land are held
within the Territories. The second
exception applies to aliens who may
acquire by "inheritance, or in good
faith in the ordinary course of justice
in the collection Of debts" This last
proviso is of consequence for mort
gage and investment companies, which
have been advancing money within
the Territories; but it leaves their pc
sltion far from clear aud satisfactory
Can they, for instance, hold perma
nently any real estate they may thus
acquire in the collection of debts
1t is too common an experience